Circle Of Trust
by xXBalorBabeXx
Summary: When Amanda showed up to see her sister and nephew, she didn't expect to see Seth there as well... when she notices that Rhys refuses to adjust to Seth being around, will Ashley listen?


_**A/N: Ashley, Rhys, Kyle (Kyle in flashbacks only), TJ, Bo, Brigette, Dakota and her family and Rue and her family and friends are werewolf-queen-022's characters.**_

_**September 23rd 2015…**_

_Amanda saw Ashley, Seth and Rhys… and the three saw her, Rhys turning to Ashley to indicate that he wanted Amanda to hold him._

_Ashley handed him to Seth before walking over to Amanda and pulling her aside, Rhys whimpering, yelling in his own way and then hitting his tiny hands against Seth to try to get free as he wanted Amanda to hold him instead._

_"What's wrong? I can't visit you two?" Amanda responded, going to check on Rhys but Ashley stopped her._

"_You can visit but I just don't want you telling anyone about Seth being here, that's all." Ashley said before they walked over to Seth and Rhys._

_"No problem there." Amanda replied before gently taking Rhys into her arms and calming him. "Hi, little buddy." She responded as she rubbed his back, Seth and Ashley going to talk._

_"Why hide me?" Seth asked._

"_I thought you wanted to keep our relationship quiet." Ashley responded._

_"Hard to now, you know she's gonna confide in Finn." Seth replied._

_"They can keep this secret together then." Ashley responded._

"_If word gets out about you and me then we know who is to blame here." Seth replied._

_"Just dial it back a few notches. I've calmed down and accepted him as part of her life, why can't you?" Ashley responded._

"_What happened to the old Ashley? She would rip off anyone's head that thought they could be with her sister?" Seth asked, Amanda throwing a dirty look his way as she was angry at how Seth couldn't calm Rhys._

"_Motherhood happened." Ashley responded._

_Amanda looked back to Rhys, who was perplexed as he didn't understand what was being said._

_"That's best saved to know about when you're older, buddy." Amanda replied as she held the 7 month old close to her and sang Rhythm Of My Heart by Rod Stewart._

_When Ashley and Seth walked back in, they saw Rhys asleep in Amanda's arms._

"_I can finally go take a shower." Ashley responded._

"_Why didn't you say that when I got here? I could have watched him." Seth replied._

_"Whisper, please." Amanda responded quietly, both nodding before Ashley headed upstairs and Amanda sat down carefully… and smiling as she kissed his forehead._

_"They had to rewrite the scripts for Night Of Champions, Raw and SmackDown… why won't you tell the public what happened? Most of us backstage don't know what happened." Seth replied._

_"Because it was a medical issue and I need time to recover. Can we leave it at that for now?" Amanda explained, her voice kept low to avoid waking Rhys._

"_Alright fine." Seth said._

_It was when Rhys was in his crib that Amanda had left… and Ashley, now in pajamas, saw Seth._

_"No luck with small talk?" Ashley asked._

_"She won't talk about why she took time off. Not to me, at least." Seth responded._

_Amanda was back in the townhouse, wishing she could drink… and Finn pulled her into his arms._

_"Seth was over there with them. I don't know why but the thought of him playing family man completely rattled me." Amanda replied as they let go, TJ walking downstairs._

"_Wait Seth is a dad?! Who did he knock up?!" TJ asked._

_"No, she meant the thought of him playing father figure to Rhys unnerved her." Finn responded._

"_What?! He's fucking my best friend?!" TJ exclaimed._

_"Don't say a word, neither of you." Amanda replied._

_"We're gonna keep an eye on him though, right?" Finn asked._

_"I don't trust that man near my sister and nephew and Seth knows that." Amanda responded._

"_He's gotta be after something from her. I mean you just don't go and date a single mom with a crazy ex without a good reason to." TJ replied._

_"True." Amanda responded, Finn helping her sit down… and TJ turning wide eyed._

"_That bastard is after her money!" TJ yelled._

_"Actually, he's getting paid really well as WWE Heavyweight Champion so I don't think that's it." Amanda responded._

"_He's after something and I'm gonna find out what!" TJ replied before storming out._

_Finn sat down and held Amanda, who buried her head into his right shoulder in frustration._

"_Hopefully he wouldn't do anything stupid." Finn responded._

_"TJ does something first, thinks it through later if it doesn't work out and tries again." Amanda replied, Finn lightly rubbing her back as it still ached from passing the kidney stone last week. "I might be reading too much into it but she put Rhys in Seth's arms when Rhys wanted me to hold him and the little guy fussed and squirmed a bit until I held him." She responded._

_"The little guy wanted his aunt but his mother put him in the arms of someone who's basically a stranger, of course Rhys wouldn't be happy with that." Finn replied as he held Amanda._

_"Rhys sensed how I felt when I saw Seth there… I was right there and she put him in Seth's arms anyway when Rhys wanted me to hold him. And then when I tried to go calm Rhys, Ashley stopped me. Not gonna lie, that hurt… I feel like Ashley did it on purpose." Amanda responded, brushing tears away. "I don't think she ever wanted me around her son… and that hurts." She replied, Finn lightly rubbing her side._

_And he couldn't blame her for feeling hurt…_

**Present time**_**, September 24th 2015…**_

Rhys took the plastic spoon out of Ashley's right hand and threw it at Seth's head, Ashley realising that he was aggravated with her after what she did yesterday and Seth rubbing his head in confusion.

"What was that for, little buddy?" Seth asked, Rhys throwing oatmeal at him.

"He's mad that I put him in your arms yesterday, he wanted Mandy to hold him." Ashley responded before turning back to Rhys. "It'll be okay, little guy. Seth will just take some getting used to." She explained as Seth walked over, having gone into the kitchen to rinse the plastic spoon and wash his face.

But Rhys threw the spoon at him again, telling him off in his own way… and Ashley set the mostly empty bowl of oatmeal aside, picking Rhys up out of the highchair and held him to try to calm him.

In the townhouse, Amanda opened her eyes and felt Finn's right arm around her waist.

And she turned to her left, wrapping her right arm around his back and falling back into sleep.

She didn't want to deal with the world today.


End file.
